Staff Takes: How Will we Look at Analytics Differently in the Next Year?

We asked a handful of people within the agency to think about the constantly changing world of analytics. From digital to creative and everywhere in between, analytical data touches nearly every sector of our business. We wanted to hear what our HCBers had to say about the future of the analytics space.

See what some of our staff had to say about the subject below.

How will we look at analytics differently in the next year?

I think the lens through which we look at analytics is ever changing. Between this and the amount of data available, it can be difficult for companies to choose and stick with their KPIs, which then defeats the purpose of even having them.

I would also add that, largely due to the highly publicized mistakes of Facebook, consumers will become more savvy about their personal data and take greater care to protect it, which makes analytics tricky. If companies can’t demonstrate transparency in their collection practices and ensure data security, consumers may opt out of using their app/software/program altogether (we’ve already seen this at Facebook which has lost millions of users). Companies need to hold themselves to the same standards.

As a copywriter, I think it’s important to approach analytics with humans in mind — not just algorithms. Analytics will bring a horse to water, but the content will make it drink.

From the finance perspective, I believe analytics will be driven in major industries by artificial intelligence. More companies are looking to drive efficiencies in their data by implementing AI throughout their infrastructure in order to get real-time information and synthesize massive amounts of data quickly. This data is more relevant and provides decision-makers the information they need to pivot the business quickly, forecast appropriately and anticipate changes in the market. In the finance space, companies are also looking to use robotic automation to complete transactional tasks that will lower the costs of running an overhead department.

It’s hard to predict how we will look at analytics differently in the next year. Although I expect analytics to become more advanced, detailed and informative, the way we actually look at them may remain the same — with a fine-tooth comb panning for insights.

Analytics are ever changing, and we need to stay ahead of it to stay ahead of the curve.

From a media planning and buying POV, ideally the industry will agree on a standardized unit of measurement that can be used across all media channels to better estimate the value of a single advertising unit. Assuming well-defined KPIs have informed the overall media strategy, a more standardized way of looking at all media inventory in the planning and buying stages would lead to more actionable and effective in-campaign optimization and would result in clearer holistic attribution and valuation analytics that would then inform future efforts. I don’t see it happening in the next year, but I think the industry continues to push in that direction courtesy of digital media.